Dorothy Allyn was born March 13th, 1911, in Adrian, Washington to Harry and Loretta Allyn. Dorothy spent her childhood in Eastern Washington until the family moved to Bellingham when she was a teenager.

        Dorothy was a lifelong artist and found her artistic voice at a young age. By age 12, she was producing beautiful works, usually featuring animals, and especially dogs. Throughout her teenage years, she was recognized in competition for her unparalleled talent in painting and line drawings of animals. Dorothy went on to attend the Cornish College of the Arts, which fed her artistic mind and interests. In the late thirties, she was an illustrator for children's books. As her artistic life developed, Dorothy experimented with multiple mediums and methods, including wood carving, abstract oils, and Sumi-e. She was particularly moved by nature and studied it throughout her life with an artist's eye, capturing and infusing the essence of the smallest flower or bird - usually in a few quick strokes.